Being in anguish, He prayed more fervently
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44 (NIV)
Jesus the Son of God was in a state of anguish, he was experiencing intense mental pain because he knew the struggle that would precede his death on the cross. He had to die a painful death in order to become a sacrificial lamb for the remission of our sins. This was the only way of reconciliation between man and God.
As the time now drew nearer, he knew the road between him and the salvation of man wouldn?t be a smooth one to ride. He became discouraged and his flesh cried out. The flesh always seeks to gratify itself, rather than seeking out the will of God.
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42 (NIV)
But notice how he immediately allowed the Holy Spirit to take captive that thought projected by the flesh and bring it back in alignment with the will of his Father. I say, 'allowed' because as believers we also have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and like Jesus we must consciously yield to the Holy Spirit and allow him to direct out thoughts, words, actions and emotions. When we don?t do this we silence him and become increasing insensitive to his leadings. This ultimately brings us out of the will of God where failure is inevitable.
When we become born again we become new creatures in Christ. However our flesh is constantly crying out and trying to take over, but as we become more imbued by the Holy Spirit (through prayer) and study the word on a daily basis, we grow in strength and are more able to discern between spiritual and carnal things and consequently conform to the spiritual things which bring life and not carnal things that lead to death.
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44 (NIV)
As Christians we will still face challenges that aim to put us in a state of agony, as you can see, even the Son of God experienced this.
However, your victory depends on your response. In this instance we see Jesus praying more fervently because he knew through prayer he would be strengthened, renewed and his will would be realigned with his fathers will in heaven.
Prayer allows us to focus on the power of God rather than our hour of agony.
As Christians when we face challenges that put us in agony we should gather our strength through prayer.
Sadly we see the results of what happens when we don?t pray in verse 45
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. Luke 22:45 (NIV)
Jesus had finished praying and went back to find his disciples asleep and exhausted from sorrow. They had allowed the challenges of the present to overwhelm them as opposed to focusing on the power of the God of the past, present and future.
Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. Luke 22:46 (NIV)
In verse 46 we see Jesus encouraging his disciples to pray so that they would have victory over the storm of the present.
What amazes me about this verse is that through prayer Jesus not only had strength to overcome his own storm, God also supplied him with enough to share with his disciples and encourage them towards their victory.
My prayer for you is that as you pray more fervently during the stormy seasons, you?re not only filled with enough strength to overcome your battles but enough to encourage others around you.
Mary Adeagbo